I'm the Author
by Gone-to-Lunch-Indefinately
Summary: The Vongola family head off on a big camping trip, but what happens when somebody falls off the cliffs? How can Tsuna save his family member without killing himself in the process? TsunaOC


**This story was requested by . on my quizilla account, but I decided to put it here too! I hope you enjoy! And I also hope the underscores work... Constructive critisism welcome!**

"It was an exceptionally beautiful Monday morning in Namimori; summer vacation had just started and children of all ages frolicked around excitedly. A group of teenagers were crowded together at a small bus stop waiting for, what else but, the bus. One person of the group seemed to be scared out of his wits just thinking about the journey ahead of—ow! Hey, what was that for Gokudera-baka!?"

Frowning at the silver haired teen, I rubbed the now sore spot at the top of my head where he had hit me.

"Stop talking about Juudaime in such an ungrateful way," Gokudera yelled, directing his dagger filled glare my way, "You should be honored that Juudaime even bothered inviting you on this trip!"

I stared up at the Italian Mafioso for a couple seconds, a look of confusion crossing my face, "Actually I was talking about Lambo-chan," I said, gesturing a hand to the cow-clad Mafioso-mini that just so happened to be clinging to my leg. Glancing in Tsuna's direction for a split second, I could see him complaining to Reborn, "Although, now that I think about it… Tsuna-kun does seem a bit nervous about the camping trip, doesn't he?"

Getting another spark of inspiration, I started narrating over again.

"It was an exceptionally beautiful Monday morning in Namimori; summer vacation had just started and children of all ages frolicked around excitedly. At this time the Vongola X just so happened to be spazzing about a camping trip he was about to—ow! What do you want now!?"

"Why do you always do that?" Gokudera asked—or rather growled—as he chewed on the end of his cigarette.

"Do what, the narrating?" He nodded briefly as a sign for me to continue, "Well, Gokudera-_baka_, as an aspiring young author I feel the need to narrate the things happening around me so that I can better myself in my writing."

"Che, whatever," he sneered, mumbling something along the lines of 'stupid girl' before he turned to pick a fight with Yamamoto.

I looked back over to the Vongola X to see that he was still complaining about the camping trip, "You can't be serious; you expect me to be able to take care of all these people on a one week camping trip," he yelled, his eyes wide in fear as he thought about all the horrible things that could happen through the week, "I can hardly take care of myself at home!"

"This trip will be proficient for your training," Reborn replied, tilting his fedora to cover his eyes from the blazing sun, "A good mafia boss should know how to protect his subordinates in any situation and also trust that they can take care of themselves."

"Yes, but there's so many people attending on this trip! How am I supposed to keep an eye on all of them…" and with that, Tsuna went into another one of his frequent spaz-attack rambles.

Tuning out all the voices that surrounded me, I scanned the area to look around at all the people who would be going on the one week camping trip. First there was Tsuna and Reborn, obviously as this was another attempt to train Tsuna to become a good mafia boss. Further away from them was Ryouhei, he was talking to Yamamoto about how 'extreme' this trip would be, that is until Gokudera decided to pick another useless fight with the silly baseball nut. Standing a few feet away from the bus stop on the opposite side of me was Hibari… I have no idea how Reborn got him to come. Below me, Lambo was trembling in fright about his first trip to the woods while I-pin just seemed to stand there, curiously taking sneak peeks at the unmoving Head Prefect. Standing not too far from me was the Kokuyo trio, Mukuro, Chikusa, and Ken; it's seems that the last two really did follow their leader around everywhere. Last but not least there was me, the only non-guardian of the group who had almost no experience with fighting on the field.

"Why am I here again?" I asked, cutting Tsuna off of his crazy rambling.

"You're here to babysit these two," Reborn said as he walked over to stand in front of me, gesturing to the two toddlers beneath me; Leon had managed to transform into a cane which Reborn used to whack Lambo on the head, "As you can see they can barely manage themselves."

"That's not true; Lambo-san can take very good care of himself," Lambo wailed, speaking in third person as he let go of my leg and ran about, only to stop a few feet from Tsuna, I-pin successfully following him, "I'll prove it to you Reborn-san!"

I watched in horror as Lambo pulled out another one of his small pink hand grenades, this one already ready for detonation, and threw it in some random direction; unfortunately for me, it landed only a foot away from where I was standing. Yelping when somebody had suddenly grabbed me by the collar and pulled me back, I stared wide-eyed at the now gaping whole the grenade had made.

"Kufufu, now that could have easily led to a very unfortunate accident had I not pulled you away in time," I immediately recognized the sinister voice to belong to, who else but, the conniving Mukuro, "I believe a thank you is in order, ne?"

"Thank you Mukuro-san," I spoke, staring at the smirking pineapple head; he was always acting like a gentleman to me, a creepy gentleman but a gentleman nonetheless. With a curt nod of approval, he turned once more to continue talking to his subordinates; I swear he has a thing for me.

"Hey look, the bus is here," Ryouhei yelled out, pointing off into the near distance, "Let's get this camping trip started, to the extreme!"

"I call the backseat!" I yelled, claiming my favorite seat in the bus as I quickly picked up my duffel bag full of clothes for the week. "I love the backseat!"

**(Time Skip)**

"I hate the backseat now," I mumbled.

After an extremely aggravating and tiring hour, we had finally reached our destination. I felt a shudder run down my spine as I thought about what had happened on the bus. The entire hour was occupied with Gokudera pointlessly yelling at Yamamoto, Tsuna trying to break up the one-sided quarrel, Lambo and I-pin running around the bus 'playing tag' like lunatics, and Ryouhei yelling out his famous 'to the extreme' catchphrase every couple of sentences as he talked to me. I probably would've felt better sitting up in the front of the bus with the Kokuyo gang and Hibari… On second thought, I would've died of all the silence if I had done that.

"Ah, don't worry _____-san," Yamamoto laughed, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "I'm sure the rest of the week will be much better!"

"Yeah, you're right Yamamoto," I smiled, lugging my not-so-light duffel bag onto my shoulder, "I mean, how often do I get to go on a one week camping trip with my best friends?"

"That's the spirit _____-san," Ryouhei cheered as he came up from behind us, "Now that we're finally here we can officially start this camping trip, to the extreme!"

"Now all we have to do is convince Tsuna-kun that this trip will be fun," I murmured, taking another side glance at the panicky brunette. A small smile played on my lips as I watched him help the others get their stuff off the bus, accidently dropping a few things here and there; that's what I liked about him, he could be just one big hopeless case, but he could also be the sweetest person on earth.

A blush quickly formed on my face as I shook my head out of embarrassment. What am I talking saying? This is Tsuna I'm talking about; the guy that had been my best friend since the beginning of grade school. I couldn't possibly be falling for him, could I?

"Where are we going camping at Reborn-san," Tsuna asked, scanning the scenery for a good camping spot as he lugged his own bag onto his shoulder.

"That's all up to you to decide Tsuna," Reborn replied, smirking that little smirk of his.

"W-what; how am I supposed to know where a good camping spot is Reborn-san!? I've never even been here before and—"

"Relax Tsuna-kun," I said as I wrung my arm around his shoulder in a friendly way, "I'm sure you'll pick out an amazing spot!"

"A-ah, _____-san, I-I'm not so sure that I—"

"Now come on, let's get on that trail and walk to our hearts content!"

With that said, I ran off with Tsuna still attached to my arm to help him search for a good camping spot up ahead.

**(Time Skip)**

"Out in the wilderness, a group of teenagers were wandering about, looking for the ideal camping spot. They had been searching for hours and so far their search came with no avail. Some of them wondered if they had traveled too far into the woods. Would they be able to come back out alive? Would they find a decent camping spot before nightfall? Would—"

"Would the annoying wannabe author ever shut-up!?" I glared at Gokudera, childishly sticking my tongue out at him.

I kicked another stone that so happened to me in my way on the dirt path, watching as it skipped ahead and landed in a puff of dirt. Turning my gaze to stare forward, the only things that seemed to be in my view for miles were trees, foliage, and other forest life. An exasperated sigh escaped my lips as I averted my eyes skyward; more trees… oh joy.

"Tsuna-kun, are we there yet?" I asked, another sigh escaping my lips for the umpteenth time today as I turned to face the weary Vongola X, "We've all been walking for hours and I'm tired!"

Checking my watch, I noticed that it was now five minutes until five. If we were going to stop anywhere it had to be soon or we'd be walking in the dark.

"A-ah, I… I don't know," Tsuna said, his head dropping in self-disappointment, "I'm tired too."

"Here, let me carry that for you Juudaime," Gokudera spoke happily as he took Tsuna's bag from him, placing it on his own shoulders. He reminded me a bit of a devoted puppy… or a pack mule.

Snickering to myself at the funny thought of Gokudera being a pack mule, I failed to notice the tree branch that just so happened to be behind me as I walked backwards. I also failed to notice that the hiking trail had taken a sharp turn which meant that the only thing behind me was cliff and open air.

"_____-san, watch out!"

I watched confusedly as Tsuna lurched forward, one arm extended towards me. When he had successfully grabbed onto my arm, he tugged me towards him, catching me off balance for a second. I don't know when I did, but somewhere between him grabbing my arm and tugging me over I had closed my eyes. When everything had gone silent for a couple of seconds, I opened my eyes slightly to see Tsuna peering down worriedly at me.

"Um, Tsuna-kun, what was that for?" I asked, a very light blush crossing my cheeks. At that moment, I decided I really _did _like Tsuna.

He automatically let go of my arm before stepping back a step, "A-ah, y-you were about to fall over the edge," he stammered out, pointing down to the tree root that could have so easily tripped me.

"Oh, thanks Tsuna-kun," I said, smiling up at him before turning around, my back facing towards him. I gazed down the cliff looking pointlessly at nothing at all to hide my embarrassed face, "I could've taken care of myself though. I'm not that weak—"

I was cut off at the sudden crumbling of the rock beneath me. Once again, I felt the familiar feeling of somebody grabbing me by the back of my collar, but this time there was no familiar tug backwards. Guessing by the extra weight added to my downfall, the person who had tried to catch me had successfully doomed themselves to an untimely end as well.

"Juudaime!" And guessing from Gokudera's frantic yell, the person who had _tried_ to catch me was Tsuna… I'm doomed.

I looked below me to see what looked to be very hard dirt approaching quickly. Thinking fast, I threw my duffel bag off my shoulder and positioned it so I would fall on top of it, and hopefully so would Tsuna if we were lucky enough. When I saw that the ground had come exceptionally close, I closed my eyes, preparing for impact.

_**THUD!!!**_

Thankfully, I had landed on my duffel bag safely, but when an unexpected weight all of a sudden landed on me, which I was guessing to be Tsuna, I foolishly rolled to my side taking him with me. Lady luck obviously wasn't on my side today for when I rolled over there were no more cliffs, but there was a very steep hill. I didn't dare open my eyes for a second as I felt myself tumble and roll down the rock laden hill. I practically hear Tsuna screaming in fear as I rolled silently, taking in the stinging pain of a few cuts and bruises.

When we had finally slowed our rolling, I reluctantly sat up at looked at our surroundings. We were now in a meadow. How we got there I would never know, but looking around the area I could tell that this meadow was in the middle of a few large mountains, one of them being the one Tsuna and I had just fallen off of. The meadow had an overgrowth of soft grass and wild flowers everywhere. It looked like, to me, a whole new world from where we just were. The forest had been so dark and gloomy with all the trees blocking out the sunlight, but this place didn't have a tree in sight except for the ones in the surrounding forestry.

"Are you okay _____-san?"

I looked over to where Tsuna sat, rubbing at his head. I felt a pang of relief wash over when I saw that there was no real damage to the small mafia boss aside from a few scrapes and cuts.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said as I tried to stand up, but when I did a shock of pain went up and down my leg causing me to fall back down again, "Scratch that. I might've sprained my ankle or something."

"Ah, oh-no, what do we do now?" Tsuna asked as he crawled over to where I was, examining my leg lightly. "I was going to suggest climbing back up the mountain, but with your leg hurting it would only make it worse. Do you have anything that might help it?"

"Ah, yeah, I think I have something in… my… duffel bag… Where's my duffel bag?" We both looked around the grassy field, searching for the huge blotch of red that would be my duffel bag, but it was no where in sight, "It must've caught on something after we started rolling downhill…"

I could see Tsuna tense next to me as he looked at our surrounding. It didn't really seem like a lot of time had passed, but it had grown really dark in the time that we were falling. The sky had turned a deep purplish-pink color as the sun set off in the distance. I tried to look at my watch to see what time it was, but the glass had cracked on the way down thus rendering it utterly useless.

"Well, we should at least try to find shelter," I sighed, looking at Tsuna with a reassuring smile.

"Ah, right," he nodded.

I winced as he helped me to my feet. Placing one arm around his neck, I used him as a makeshift crutch and walked around on one foot. We both wobbled our way over to the forest's edge and walked through a couple trees before Tsuna suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong Tsuna-kun?"

"Eheheh," He laughed as a rumbling sound resided from his stomach," I guess I need something to eat. You don't happen to have anything, do you?"

"Sorry Tsuna-kun," I spoke, a sad smile on my features, "Everything I took with me was in my duffel bag."

"Ah, that's okay," he sighed as we continued walking further into the dark woods.

It had been a couple minutes of silence as we walked until I noticed something that could serve us as shelter for the night.

"Hey, look over there Tsuna-kun," I said, nudging my head in the opposite direction, "That cave can hold us for the night don'tcha think?"

"Good thinking _____-san," Tsuna smiled happily as we made our way over to the empty cave. It wasn't deep and it looked like it would let water in if it were to suddenly rain, but it would be a good enough shelter for tonight.

Silence had consumed the both of us once more as we both sat on the cold cave floor. Tsuna, sitting right next to me, had his eyes closed; I watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he took in deep breaths. One would think he would be asleep, and that's exactly what I thought until his soft voice decided to break the silence.

"I never wanted this," he murmured.

"I don't think anyone would want to fall off a cliff Tsuna-kun," I laughed lightly, looking at him with wavering eyes.

"Not _this_," Tsuna exclaimed, his voice rising a bit higher that usual as he looked at me dead in the eye, "I never wanted to be the boss. Life was so much more easier when I wasn't involved with the mafia. Nothing good could ever come out of this!"

"That's not true," I said, smiling solemnly at him.

"Give me one example then," he said, staring sadly at the floor, "One example of something good happening because of something bad."

"Well, there's us," I said, a confident smile on my lips.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, remember how we met? We had both gotten a detention, which is something bad, and ended up meeting each other in the detention room which led to us becoming good friends, which is something good. See, something good came out of something bad."

I watched as Tsuna opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds like a fish out of water, looking for a good come back but coming up with none.

"Yeah I guess you're right _____-san," Tsuna said as he smiled a sincere smile, but it soon faded into another frown, "Ah, but nothing good could ever come out of me being a coward about confessing to Kyoko-chan."

"Haven't you ever thought about what would happen if Kyoko-chan liked someone else?" I asked, a frown playing upon my lips. I hated the way he called her 'chan' while he reserved the more formal 'san' for me, a person he's known for much longer, "What would you do then?"

"Wait?" he asked unsurely.

"Wait for what Tsuna? For her to recognize your feelings; the ones you're so desperately trying to hide?" I asked, serious this time. It pained me emotionally to know he would never know how much I really care for him, "Haven't you ever thought of the possibility of somebody else liking you for who you are? There are other girls out there you know!"

I had unintentionally raised my voice to the point that I was yelling at the unsuspecting boy. He stared at me, wide-eyed and in shock as I averted my gaze to the world outside the cave. Another annoying blush had made its way to my face and I desperately tried to cover it up my putting a quivering hand to my face.

"_____-san," I felt Tsuna put one of his hands on my shoulder, lightly forcing me to face him, "What are you talking about?"

"Are you honestly that dense!?" My blush had darkened considerably and before I knew it, I had pressed my lips to his in a quick and simple peck, "I really, _really_ like you."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Tsuna tense up at the unexpected kiss. Was I really that horrible that he couldn't even answer me after that?

Trying to ignore the pang of regret and the sting of rejection, I turned my body fully away from him. I could feel tears pricking at the corner of my eyes as I once again stared off into the distance; it was nighttime now and I could clearly see the stars from where I was sitting. Unknowingly, I let a shiver run down my spine; it was also very cold and since I was wearing nothing but a regular t-shirt and a pair of jeans the freezing night air had gotten to me. I hope I don't wake up with a cold.

"Gazing up at the stars glaring down at her from the heavenly night sky, she wondered if the one she truly liked would ever notice her," I narrated, sighing as two arms circled around my shoulders only to pull me back into Tsuna, "What do you want now?"

He sighed heavily before answering, "I may not be able to return your feelings just yet _____-san, but I can give it a try if you let me."

A small smile made its way onto my features as I looked up at Tsuna; what he had said warmed my heart from the inside out.

"I guess I could let you try," I whispered, my eyes fluttering shut as I readied myself for a good night's sleep.

**(The Next Day)**

"Juudaime, where are you?"

"Tsuna, _____-san; come out, come out wherever you are!"

"This isn't a game of hide-n-seek baka! Search for them like you mean it!"

"Ah, we should be able to find them soon. Guessing from where they fell, they shouldn't be too far."

Yawning slightly, I rubbed my eyes as the sound of familiar voices rang through my head. It took me a few minutes to comprehend that those voices were of the rest of our group!

"H-hey guys, we're over here!" I stuttered, my voice raw from having nothing to drink for over ten hours.

"I heard the voice from over here," I could here Ryouhei shout to the others. Soon enough I saw the bushes in front of the cave rustle a bit before white hair popped out. "I found them, to the extreme!"

"Ryouhei-kun, I never thought I'd be so happy to hear your annoying catchphrase!"

"What?"

"Nothing at all," I smiled brightly as Gokudera and Yamamoto also popped out of the same bush.

"W-what happened to Juudaime?" Gokudera asked, automatically turning on right-hand man mode.

Glancing to my side, I could see that Tsuna had fallen over and was still fast asleep, "Eh, he's probably still asleep… or maybe he finally passed out over hunger issues… what it is again? Starving; yeah that it."

Gokudera quickly hopped over to Tsuna's side, trying to shake him awake, "Ah, J-Juudaime, Juudaime wake up!"

"H-hn; w-what's going on?" Tsuna asked as he sat up, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes.

"Tsuna-kun isn't it wonderful; we've been found!" I exclaimed as Ryouhei helped me up to my feet after he had noticed that I had sprained my ankle. "We can go home now!"

"Not exactly," Reborn said, finally deciding to pop out of his hiding spot only to land on Tsuna's shoulder, "We have six more days of this camping trip. You're just gonna have to deal with."

I groaned, my head hitting Ryouhei's shoulder in disappointment. Closing my eyes in misery, I frowned at what I now thought would be a week of hell. What about my duffel bag!? I bet they didn't even bother collecting it.

"_____-san, wake up," I heard Yamamoto say.

"I am awake," I mumbled, only to have the same line thrown at me again. I growled in aggravation before retorting, "I told you, I am awake!"

---

"I am awake," I mumbled slightly, my eyes fluttering open to reveal mismatched one staring down at me along with the ever knowing smirk and pineapple hair. "Ack, what the heck!?"

Snatching my duffel bag off of my lap, I quickly ran off the bus with lightning speed. I scrambled to hide behind the nearest person to me, which just so happened to be everybody's favorite baseball nut, Yamamoto.

"W-what just happened?" I asked, my voice quivering slightly.

"You fell asleep while I was talking to you," Ryouhei answered as I finally stopped hiding behind Yamamoto, "So we moved you to the front of the bus where it was quieter so you could sleep."

"You must've been really tired after your near death experience at the bus stop," Yamamoto laughed as he placed a hand on the top of my head, ruffling my hair. "The only free spot was next to Mukuro-san; I hope you didn't mind."

A felt a cold shudder make its way down my spine, leaving an odd tingling sensation, as I thought about how I just survived sleeping next to the Italian criminal illusionist. Who also had a thing for me, might I add; honestly, I swear he did!

"Wait, I fell asleep?" I asked, staring up at the two guys before me.

"Yeah, you fell asleep a couple minutes after we got n the bus," Yamamoto answered, looking at me with that lopsided grin of his.

There's no way that that whole ordeal had only been a dream, had it? I mean, it felt so real, like I had actually fallen off a cliff. I looked at my wrist to see that my watch was exactly the way I had left it, nothing out of place, nothing broken or bent. That would mean that I really hadn't told Tsuna my real feelings yet.

"W-what; how am I supposed to know where a good camping spot is Reborn-san!?" I heard Tsuna yell a couple feet away from me, "I barely even know where we are!"

Smiling slightly to myself, I turned to face the disheveled Vongola boss with gleaming eyes. It didn't matter that I really hadn't told Tsuna how I truly felt about him; he'd figure it out sometime soon anyways, but for now, we have a camping trip to live through!

"Don't worry Tsuna-kun," I said, throwing a reassuring smile at him, "I think I know a good spot to camp." I hope my dream was at least half true so that meadow would still be there at the base of the mountains.

Turning on my heal, I started narrating over again as we all walked along the forest trail, "It was an exceptionally beautiful Monday morning in the forest at the edge of Namimori; the sun was blazing, the sky was a nice clear blue, not a cloud in the sky could be found. A small group of teenagers had just set off on an adventure; camping in the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the elements of nature—"

"We have supplies and extra food and clothes baka; stop being a wannabe author!"

I turned my ice cold glare in Gokudera's direction, effectively earning a shudder from him and a few select people around him.

"I don't care what you say," I said, playfully sticking my tongue out at him, "I'm the author of this story and what I say goes!"

Sooner or later, I'll tell you how I feel Sawada Tsunayoshi.

**(The End)**


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